


I Think We've Already Begun

by Fanficsat2AM



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: AU, Blood and Violence, Btw lots of violence, But secretly Janus, Creativitwins-Freeform, Deceit | Janus Sanders is Named Deceit, Don't read if you don't like guts, Evil Twins, Family Issues, Family Secrets, Hah gay, Human Sides (Sanders Sides), If you're a surgeon or doctor or police you'll like this one, It's awesome, M/M, No one knows his real name, Organs, Secret Organizations, There's even a solid fight scene in there, Unsympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Unsympathetic Deceit | Janus Sanders, Violence, What the hell love of my life, evil family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:54:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29553834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fanficsat2AM/pseuds/Fanficsat2AM
Summary: “Hey Logan, what’s up?”“I don’t think your father killed himself.”-----Virgil is caught off guard when his father commits suicide- he was a happy man and loved his life.Nevertheless, he pushes on.Then, he meets Roman, an artist with beautiful eyes and fiery passion, one that makes Virgil's heart flutter.But then, he gets a call that changes his life- not only his, but Roman's too.Patton isn't dead, he's alive.But not for long.-----Updating every other day (for the suspense, of course).
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Logicality, Prinxiety, platonic Demus - Relationship
Comments: 14
Kudos: 27





	1. Gone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friennnndddddsss  
> It's ya boi
> 
> So I'm soooo hyped for this one. I've been working on it for months, I can't believe I actually finished it! Usually my WIPS never see the light of day!  
> Anyhow, I'm excited because this one is a full on story! A real plot, not just a random one chapter or something! So yeah... enjoy!

“Oh hey Logan, nice to see you… why do you have Clover?”

“I’ve got news. May I come in?”

Virgil felt his anxiety spike and he looked at Logan curiously, but ushered him in anyway. Logan was his father’s closest coworker and friend. He was a detective at the Police Department, and Mr. Slater was an officer. They’d cracked many cases together, but Virgil couldn’t crack the case of why Logan was here. He had shown up at his door without warning with his father’s dog. He was quite confused, but he waited; he was sure he would get answers eventually.

Logan set a bag down at the door before following Virgil inside. The two walked over to the couches in his living room and sat down, Clover curling up at Virgil’s feet. Logan took a deep, shaky breath, then began:

“I unfortunately… have some bad news. Your father died yesterday.”

Virgil’s eyes widened and he gasped softly. His father...dead?

“He committed suicide, throwing himself off a cliff at a hiking trail.”

Virgil didn’t know what to think. He and his father had grown apart ever since he’d moved out, sure, but that didn’t mean he didn’t call him once in a while or pay a visit. It didn’t mean that he didn’t care.

“Wha… wh-why?” Virgil managed trying to sort out his thoughts and not realizing that tears had begun to fall. His mind was in a weird state- not quite in grief, more... numb. _Did I do something to cause this?_

“I don’t know. He said in his note that the work at the department was getting too stressful, but he’d never complained about it before. He loved his job- I- I don’t understand…” Virgil looked up and realized that Logan was crying too- or at least, holding back tears. It shocked him- Logan wasn’t one to show his emotions often. _They were pretty close… but I guess they were closer than I thought._

After a few moments of silence, Logan shakily sighed stood up.

“I should head back. I’m sure you need a minute to process this,” he said softly, sniffing, then looked down at Clover. “I brought Clover here because, since you're his closest family, you inherit him. His food and other items are in the bag by the door.” Logan sighed one more time before trudging over to the front door and stepping out. 

“See you later, Virgil. I’m sorry about Patton.”

The door slammed shut, leaving Virgil in crushing silence. It was still so hard to believe- his father was _dead_. He took a shaky breath, letting a few tears fall. His father, who raised him and loved him even after his other dad died in that car accident. Sure, he had new friends now, and Logan also kind of acted like a second father figure whenever he was around, yet his father had always been there for him.

But now he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE BEGIN!  
> Tell me what you think in the comments, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. :)


	2. Nice to Meet You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter, sorry for the late posting!

It had been three days.

Virgil had taken Clover on a few short walks, still trying to recover from the grief of his loss. Finally, he decided on a route to the nearby dog park: He and his father’s dog would walk there, stay for a little bit, then head back home. Every day during his lunch break, he’d do this. However, he began to notice something that was there every time.

A man.

He was there every day, sitting at the same picnic table with the same notebook and the same red travel mug. He’d look around, write something down, look at the thing, write something down, and continue repeating the process until Virgil had to leave. It was weird and frankly interesting to watch. He wondered what the man could have possibly been doing.

Apparently, the man noticed Virgil too. So he decided to say hi.

It was a Tuesday afternoon and he’d just gotten off work for his lunch break. He and Clover arrived at the dog park but, where he normally sat, the man was sitting. At first, he slowed down, but then after quickly assessing the situation, he just decided to pick a different spot. The man, however, got in the way of his plans.

“Hello!”

Virgil’s eyes snapped over to him, startled. He stood awkwardly for a second, before giving him a small wave.

“Hey...” he said slowly, his social anxiety not helping at all.

“My name is Roman.” The man- Roman- held out his hand to Virgil. He walked over and shook it hesitantly.  _ Fuck, he’s actually kinda cute. Oh no, are my hands sweaty? Oh god.  _ “Virgil,” he said nervously. Roman smiled. “Hi, Virgil, I just wanted to say hi. I’ve, um, kind of noticed you and your dog at the park every day.” Then his eyes widened as he realized what he just said. Virgil’s eyebrows furrowed. “Not, like, in a creepy way, but I come here and look around a lot. I just saw you a lot.” Virgil nodded, smiling a bit. 

“Yeah, um, I just come here to walk my fa-” he caught himself, ignoring the twinge of pain in his heart it brought. “Walk my dog.”

“What’s its name?”

“Clover.”

“That’s cool! Yeah, um, I actually came to ask you what kind of dog he is? I use him for inspiration and it might help me.”

“Uh, he’s a German Shepherd.”

“Oh good. I thought so, but he has those ears and I wasn’t sure.”

“Yeah, that was just a weird thing. Maybe a birth defect or something, but I got him a DNA test and it said German Shepherd, so…”

“I see. Well, he is a cutie, haha,” Roman commented, laughing lightly and leaning down to scratch the dog's ears.

Suddenly, there was silence.  _ Say something, think! You’re making it awkward! _ Virgil frantically searched his brain for a topic, then remembered something that the man had said a few moments before.

“Wait so you use him for... inspiration? Inspiration for what?” he asked curiously.

“Oh, yeah! Look.”

Virgil unclipped Clover's leash before moving to stand behind the man and look at the paper. His mouth opened in awe and surprise. The notebook was actually a sketchpad, Roman wasn’t writing, he was drawing. At the moment, the picture was a half drawn sketch of a bird. 

“Oh, but this one isn’t that good. Hold on,” Roman excused, picking up the sketchbook and turning the page.

Virgil gasped. On the page he had flipped to, there was a realistic drawing of a daisy- except the colors were… different. They were the same colors as an actual daisy, but they seemed to pop out of the page.

“Wow, that’s  _ really _ good!”

“Why thank you. I come here every day to practice drawing. It’s not my full time career, of course- you’d have to be famous for that to happen. I’m actually just an accountant for a clothing company.” 

“You  _ should  _ be famous, this is amazing.”

“Thank you.” Roman looked up at him and smiled dazzlingly.

“Oh, I do want to show you this one drawing I did a few days ago. It was of your dog.”

Virgil smiled and sat down as Roman flipped through his sketchbook, colors whizzing by. Finally, he landed on a picture of a brown and black drawing of a German shepherd bounding through the grass.

“Oh tha- that’s Clover!”

Roman smiled excitedly at Virgil. “You can tell?” he asked. “Of course! I would recognize him the moment I saw him. That’s a really good drawing.” Roman grinned at him, then looked down at the art piece, inspecting it. Virgil watched his eyes travel across the page in wonder and happiness. He felt secondhand pride for the man.

“Thanks, that really means a lot.”

Virgil smiled. “No problem.”

Roman flipped to another page, then another, then another. Time flew by as the two explored the artist's sketchbook, Virgil giving compliments and Roman explainations.

Unfortunately, they didn't have forever.

“Oh, I have to go!” Virgil said frantically after checking his phone, jumping up from his seat. “What time is it?” Roman asked, trying to peek at Virgil’s screen. “Twelve fifty-six.” Roman gasped and shot up as well. “I’m late too!” Virgil jogged over to Clover and put him back on his leash. He was about to walk away when he turned back to look at Roman, who met his gaze with those chocolate-brown eyes.

“See you tomorrow?”

“Sure!’

With that, Virgil set off for home with a pep in his step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, constructive criticism is appreciated!


	3. A Gay Old Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters are starting to get long bois :)

The next day, Virgil eagerly strolled to the park with an excited feeling in his stomach.

He noticed Roman drawing at his picnic table, but he slowed down a bit. What if he was interrupting him? What if his presence disturbed him and made him hate Virgil? What if he di-

“Oh hey Virgil! Come help me find inspiration!”

Virgil let out a relieved breath and let Clover loose before sitting himself down next to Roman. Looking over his shoulder, he found a blank page, so he began to look around. “Hm, what about…” he spotted a red car parked at the curb. “What about that car?” Roman followed his gaze and nodded. “I’ll try.” 

  
Roman then huddled over and began sketching a general outline of the car, glancing up at it often. “Do you need me to look away? I mean, I have a friend who likes art and they hate when people watch them draw, so…” Virgil trailed off nervously. “Oh no, it’s fine. I don’t mind,” Roman responded, waving his hand. Virgil nodded and continued watching. 

Once the outline was done, he put in more and more details, making it more and more realistic. Finally, Roman colored it in with a pack of colored pencils he produced from his messenger bag. Virgil watched it all happen with a starstruck expression- it was like magic.

“Aaaand there e we go! Finished! How do you like it?” Roman asked proudly, leaning back and stretching his arms. 

“Wow, that’s amazing!” Virgil complimented, inspecting the masterpiece. “Thank you,” Roman said cheerily.

After a minute, Virgil took the corner of the page between his fingers and made a flipping gesture. “May I?” Roman shrugged. “Sure.”

Virgil flipped to the first page; it was the bird he’d been drawing the day before, but now it was beautifully finished with vibrant colors. On the next page was a tree with a rainbow behind it, art in the sky. The next page was a swingset, after that, a butterfly. 

“Roman these are all so amazing, how long did it take to get this good?” The man looked up. “Uhh, I don't even know. Six years? Doesn’t sound like a lot but it is.” “Woah, no yeah that must have taken dedication.” Roman chuckled, filling Virgil’s ears with the sweet sound. “Yeah, it certainly did.”

The two continued talking, eventually finding something else to draw. Roman was about halfway done when Virgil felt his phone vibrate with an alarm. He checked his phone, sighing, and stood up.

“Well, I had better get going. I wanted to give Clover a bath before I went back to work,” Virgil explained. “Oh, okay. Thanks for the inspiration." "Yeah, no problem."

Virgil was about to go and get Clover, but then was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and looked at Roman.

“Wait, uh hold on…” Roman paused a moment before going back to his sketchbook, writing something on the corner last page, tearing it off, and turning back to Virgil. He held out the piece of paper. 

“Here. In case I need any inspiration while you’re gone,” he said with slightly pink cheeks (which were probably a trick of the lighting) as Virgil took the paper. He looked down and immediately heat rushed to his cheeks.  _ He gave me his number! _ “O-Oh okay, thank you,” Virgil said after half a second, smiling up at Roman. “No problem.” Virgil then turned away (for real this time), put Clover on his leash, and headed home.

The moment he was out of sight and earshot of Roman, he squealed and punched the air, but then stopped himself. He was acting like this was a crush- Roman isn’t his crush! They’ve only known each other for two days. No, not a crush.

Still, Virgil left the park that day with the same smile he arrived in.

\-----

For the next two weeks, Virgil and Roman grew closer. They would text often, and even hang out after work sometimes. There was one smoothie place they liked and went to often. It was really fun because they would try each others’ smoothies. It was so strange- whenever he was around Roman, his anxiety kind of just… disappeared. It was gone the moment he saw the artist, replaced with something else. Something warm that made him giggly and smiley and… happy.   
  


Then, one spectacular day, Virgil decided to show Roman what  _ he  _ did for a living.

Virgil brought his backpack that day so he wouldn’t accidentally drop his tablet or blueprints- he was quite clumsy. When he arrived, Roman leaned around to look at the backpack.

“What’cha got there?” he inquired as Virgil set it on the table. “You show me your art all the time, so I thought I’d show you what I did.” Virgil took a large roll of paper out of the bag and spread it out on the table. “Woah…”

“I’m an architect,” Virgil said shyly, looking at the picture. It was a squat building with a large dome roof, intended for the rebuilding of a new library that got destroyed in a fire. “Virgil, this looks awesome! How long does it take to design one building, would you say?” 

“Well, that depends. I’d say a pretty long time, since there's also figuring out pipes and electricity, getting approval for the building, making sure it fits all the safety regulations, yada yada yada.” 

“Still, I’m impressed.”

Virgil smiled gratefully. “Thanks. Want to see some of my other stuff?” 

“Sure!”

Virgil showed Roman some other blueprints for a theatre, restaurants, and even a really tall building- not quite a skyscraper, but really tall.

“But enough about me,” Virgil said, rolling up the blueprints and putting the tablet back in his bag. “What are you drawing today?” Roman looked up at him with an are-you-serious look and an eyebrow quirked up. “What do you think?” he asked sarcastically. Virgil smiled. “You need inspiration?”

“Ding ding ding!” Roman exclaimed. Virgil laughed and looked around, then up.

“What about the clouds?” 

Roman looked up too. 

“Huh, yeah, that could be really cool! I never thought about that.”

Then Roman looked down excitedly. “You know what that means, don’t you?” he asked, grinning evilly. “What?” “Cloud gazing!” Roman grabbed Virgil’s hand and dragged him out of the fence of the dog park and into a nearby clearing.  Virgil’s heart was pounding from the hand holding, but he urged it to calm down as they reached the middle and laid down side by side in the grass, staring at the sky. It was silent for a while, and Virgil wondered if Roman could hear his heartbeat that was as loud as a drum.

“Pretty, isn’t it?”

Virgil glanced over at Roman, who was observing the sky in wonder. He could see the clouds reflected in his deep eyes, and a relaxed, gentle smile graced his tan lips. Virgil admired his features, admired the way he looked at the clouds. Suddenly, he found himself wishing that Roman would look that way at him.

_ Snap out of it, you’re staring _ .

Virgil blinked and looked back up at the sky. Luckily Roman was too enraptured with the sky to notice, but it was still a close call. 

They stayed like that for a few more minutes, staring serenely into the sky, before Roman sat up.

“Okay, I think I’ve got my inspiration. C’mon.”

The two went back to the table and Roman began to draw, Virgil watching Clover play with another dog. It was nice, just sitting peacefully in the presence of his friend and watching life go on. 

Unfortunately, it was disturbed by his alarm going off.

“Ugh, I gotta go,” Virgil groaned, standing up. Roman put his pencil down and stood up as well.

“Darn. Well thanks for th…” Roman trailed off as he spotted something on Virgil’s backpack. He swung the bag around looking for whatever it was.

“What’s wrong? Is there a spider or something?”

“No,” Roman stopped him, waving his hand. “No, I just noticed your... “ Roman seemed to struggle with his words a bit. “...rainbow pin. A pride pin, I’m guessing?” Virgil raised his eyebrows, forming an ‘O’ with his mouth. “Uh... yeah, I’m gay.” He paused, “… are you… okay with that?”

Roman hurriedly shook his head and laughed. “No no no, don’t worry. I’m totally fine with that. I should be, I’m gay myself.” Virgil’s heart suddenly became a drum and pounded in his ears as he laughed.  _ He’s gay, he’s gay, he’s gay, hE’S GAY- _

"Oh that's cool! Found a fellow gay in the wild. Guess we're really attracted to each other, huh," Virgil laughed, but then realized what he said. "Wait no! I meant like- like magnets, like we gravitate, not like roman-" Virgil hurriedly explained, but then Roman cut him off with a laugh. "Don't worry, I know what you meant." The two met eyes. It was silent for a moment, then Roman looked back at the picnic table.

“Well, you should be getting home. Those buildings aren’t going to violate laws of gravity themselves.” Virgil let out a breathy laugh and nodded. “Yeah. Thanks for listening to me ramble about tall houses and stuff today, I know it was probably boring.” 

“No, I liked it. It’s cool. You should keep me updated.”

“Sure thing.”   
  


The two said their goodbyes, Virgil collected Clover, and he started walking home. However, the moment he was alone, he started squealing and smiling like a crazy person.  _ I could have a chance! _

It had been three weeks since Virgil had met Roman. After going cloud gazing that one day, Roman suggested that they go stargazing too. It was magical, they went to a quiet hill where there wasn’t as much light pollution and noise. There weren’t any shooting stars, but at least Roman had inspiration for his next drawing. And Virgil had a mental picture of Roman staring  star struck ( **hehe** ) at the sky.

However, Virgil should’ve known it wouldn’t last.


	4. The News

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a shorter chapter but still very eventful :)

One day, he was at the park with Roman like usual. Clover came to give Virgil a chewed up daisy, which he accepted and secretly threw under the picnic table while petting the dog. Then, his phone rang.

“Hold on, I’ll be right back,” Virgil said, grabbing his phone as Roman nodded and continued drawing. He walked a few steps away before checking the caller ID and answering.

“Hey Logan, what’s up?”

“I don’t think your father killed himself.”

  
  


Virgil almost dropped the phone right then and there.    
  


“What?!”

“They never found the body and I’ve just found  _ extremely _ strong evidence and suspects who would kill him.”

“Kill him? Like murder?!” Virgil lowered his voice a bit.

“Yes, what else do you think I meant? Anyhow, it’s this organization called Conseco.”

“Conseco? What?”

“It means dismember in latin. This organization, they murder people, dissect their bodies, and sell the organs on the black market. Your dad tried to shut them down, even arrested a few of their workers, but that put a giant metaphorical target on his back.”

“Wait wait wait, they harvest people’s  _ organs?! _ ” Virgil lowered his voice more, he didn’t want anyone overhearing.

“Yes, keep up. Anyhow, the most outlandish part is…” Logan took a deep breath. “I think your father is still alive.”

Virgil took a few moments to take all the information in before shaking his head. “What?!”

Logan sighed in annoyance. “I’ll come over tonight at six pm and explain it all, okay?”

“Hold on, you tell me that you think my father was  _ kidnapped _ and is  _ still alive _ , and then expect me to wait until six?” 

“Yes.”

“But-” Before Virgil could argue back, Logan hung up the phone. He stared at the screen, running a hand through his dark hair and taking deep breaths.  _ I’ll think about it later. _

He went back and sat down at the picnic table, lost in his thoughts. He did not hold up his statement of thinking about it later- the notion plagued his mind. I mean, could you blame him?

Another thing he did not do was notice that Roman had not only stopped drawing, but his hand was shaking, brown eyes glazed over and wide.

After a few minutes of silence, Roman stood up. “Hey Virgil, I just remembered I have a doctor’s appointment I have to be at soon,” He said, stressed. “Sorry.”

Virgil finally broke from his thoughts and looked at Roman. “Oh, uh, yeah, it’s fine. See you tomorrow I guess.” 

Roman nodded and rushed off, shoving his pencils and sketchbook into his messenger bag as he speed walked away. Virgil just shrugged it off as fear of being late and called Clover over.

He needed to go home and absorb this new information.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> W h a t d o e s h e k n o w


	5. Methods of Revenge

As soon as Roman got home, he turned on his phone and opened Instagram, searching up his friend. Then he checked his name. Virgil Slater. Yep, that was him. Roman had brushed it off initially- Slater was a fairly common name. However, after overhearing Virgil’s phone call, he knew there was slim to no chance of it being a coincidence.

Roman bit his lip worriedly. Slater. Patton Slater. The police officer who had arrested twelve people, some of Conseco’s best workers and almost exposed the entire organization. There was one person Roman knew that hated him with a passion:

Roman’s father, Janus. Or, as everyone else knew him, Deceit.

He was the head of the organization after inheriting the position from his father. The man was cruel and tricky. There was only one word to describe him: evil. Roman didn’t think even that was enough.

_ What should I do? _

Roman had realized that he had a crush on Virgil one week into becoming his friend, and he wanted to protect him badly. However, if Virgil ever found out who he was related to, what his family did, he would be horrified and frightened, abandoning him. Roman shuddered. No, he would have to keep quiet.

For now.

\-----

“Remus?” the man said in his slippery voice next to Patton’s ear. His long fingers trailed down the flat side of the knife. “How many people got arrested because of this man here?” The other man, who was covered in blood, looked over with a devilish grin on his face. “Twelve,” he answered in a sing-songy voice. “Oh, dear. That’s a lot. Especially since they were  _ very  _ important to our little ecosystem that we have going on here.” The other man, Remus, nodded excitedly.

“ _ I  _ think that we should show Patton here how much twelve can hurt a being, yes? One rib for each person he arrested.” Remus cracked his knuckles. “My pleasure.” “Just don’t kill him, alright?” “Sure thing, Dad.”

It was hours later. The man and Remus stood in the office, talking. Remus suggested more torture to Patton, but the man held his hand up as he straightened his back. “He has a son.” Remus leaned back in his seat. “So?” The man looked over at his son. “ _ So _ , we can hurt him in the worst way possible. Hit him where it hurts.” he smirked.

“We’ll hurt his son.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the short chapter again, it's all for the cliffhangers and whatever.  
> The next one is significantly longer though!


	6. Discoveries and Attacks

“Okay, so. Start at the beginning.”

Logan took another bite of his Crofters and began.

“Okay, so there’s this secret organization. Conseco. It’s this group that murders people and then sells their organs and body parts to people on the black market.” Virgil shivered. “Your father caught them trading and arrested twelve of them. Once word got back to their leader, they decided they needed to get back at him somehow. I believe they... killed him or at least kidnapped him.” 

Virgil shook his head. “Why don’t you think he killed himself again?” 

“He wouldn’t. I know him- I work with him every day. He loves his job, loves his life,” Logan paused, looking up at Virgil, “loved you.” Virgil tries to smile, but the situation was so dim that it was more than hard.

“Okay so… say he’s alive. How do we get him back?”

Logan’s expression twisted into one of shame. “I don’t know.”

For a while, it was silent. Then, Virgil spoke up. “What if I go over to his house and look through his study? There should be  _ something  _ there if it was this big of a deal.” Logan nodded, eating another spoonful of jam. “Good idea. I’ll meet up with a man I found in some paperwork. I think he used to work with Patton before I started working there and he might know some information. I’ll see if I can discover anything.”

“Cool. I’ll look on Saturday, that’s my day off.”

“Great.”

\-----

Virgil trudged through the eerily silent house- his dad used to fill it with talking or music or laughter. He faintly recalled watching movies with his parents as he passed the couch, or playing board games. Now there was only silence.

He made his way over to his father’s study and began searching. He emptied drawers, pushed aside books, and looked through every possible space but to no avail. _There's really nothing here?!_ He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

Finally, he gave up, leaning defeatedly against the bookshelf. Then he shot back up. The bookshelf! He began grabbing books and looking through them, seeing if there was anything at all. 

Finally, he picked up  _ First-AID for Dummies _ , and an envelope fell out. Virgil smiled triumphantly and leaned down to pick it up. He dropped the book on his father’s desk, opened the envelope, and began to read the fancy font:

_ Conseco used to be good. It was a place for poor people to donate bodies when they didn’t have enough money for a funeral or for people who just wanted the bodies to be used for science after death. It was good: accept donated bodies, use the parts for experiments. _

_ But then, it turned bad. _

_ Some workers got excited about the autopsies- too excited. They began killing people just to dissect them. They're psychopaths. That’s when the split began. Over time it widened with proposals like selling the organs and charging people for autopsies. _

_ Soon, it was no longer verbal fighting- it was war. People were dying and fighting left and right, but there was only one winner- the corrupted. They took over and it’s been terrible ever since, especially once Deceit began to lead. _

At the bottom, glued onto the page, was a picture of a young man with no smile and a large scar running across his left cheek. He looked slightly familiar, but Virgil couldn’t tell why.

_ Please, someone stop them _

_ -Leslie _

Virgil took a deep breath. This was a lot. He stuffed the envelope in his jacket pocket to show Logan later and walked into the hallway.

_ So, this organization used to be good… but then people went insane? Jesus. _

He reached the front door, leaving the house. The wind gently blew his hair across his face as he walked to his car, covering his eyes. He reached up to brush it out of his face when suddenly something large hit him and toppled him. It wrapped long, strong limbs around his neck and pinned him to the floor. 

“Don’t move.” a voice muttered. Fear rushed into Virgil’s heart as the attacker moved, wrapping his wrists with something behind his back.  _ This is it. This is how I’ll die. _

But suddenly, the weight was lifted. Virgil looked behind him to see someone fighting his attacker. As he got up, his eyes widened as he realized was Roman. His friend had tackled the attacker onto the pavement and was now punching the shit out of him. This _ day couldn’t get any weirder.  _ “Roman wha-”

Virgil’s attacker suddenly fell unconscious with one last blow to the head. Roman stood up, wiping his now-bloody nose. Then he looked at Virgil.

“C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

Roman, unusually serious, grabbed Virgil’s wrist and pulled him to the his car. “Get in.” Virgil glanced back. “But my car-” “we’ll pick it up later. Get in.”

Once Virgil was in and they began driving, Roman let out a sigh. “I should teach you some self defense or something, Jesus.”

Virgil glanced over at Roman. _Seriously? That's the first thing you think?_ More confused than he’d ever been, shook his head in bewilderment. “I have many questions.”

“Not right now. I have very important things I need to do. You’re going home and staying there, you need to remain inside for a few days." "What the fuck? Whatever just happened, happened, and you're just going to tell me to hole up in my house for no rea-" "Please." Virgil looked over at Roman again, who was giving him a pleading look. "For your own safety. I don't want you to get hurt."

Virgil’s stomach turned. “Fine, but you owe me  _ many _ explanations. Like, who was that person that attacked me?”

Roman sighed. “I’ll tell you once this is all over.”

\-----

Logan walked up to the door of the large, tan house nervously. Apparently this house belonged to an ex-friend of Patton’s. He rang the doorbell and was soon greeted by a buff man.

“Hi I’m Logan Cense, I came here to talk.” The guy raised his eyebrow. “About?” he asked, his voice gruff.

“Conseco.” The man’s eyebrows shot up. “My best friend and coworker, Patton Slater, got involved and-”

Suddenly, something hard hit his head and he fell to the floor.  _ What the…?  _

“Yeah, I know Slater. The guy who almost ruined the company. Now you’re trying to do the same, huh? Can’t let that happen.”

Just before he fell unconscious, he felt himself being dragged inside the house.


	7. Tricks of Love

Virgil had been housebound for three days. He was quite lucky that he was in the beginning stages of designing a project he was working on so he didn’t have to leave the building. The man hadn’t received a single text from Roman or Logan in that time, which was concerning. Clover was pacing the floor, upset he’d barely ever been let out of the house other than the backyard.

Finally, enough was enough. “Okay, I’m going to go find Roman,” Virgil said to himself, getting out of bed on the fourth morning. He put on a ripped purple shirt, black jeans, and a black hoodie with purple patches before heading out the door. “I’ll be back soon buddy,” he said to his German shepherd, locking the gold handle before stepping out and closing it behind him. 

He took the bus to Roman’s house- he’d left his car at his father’s- which wasn’t too far. He’d been there before when Roman wanted to show him a giant painting he’d worked on. It was a person whom Virgil didn’t recognize, though it was hard to make out anything since Roman had just begun the project. Virgil smiled bittersweetly at the memory as he swayed on the bus. So much had changed since then.

Finally, the bus reached his stop and Virgil walked the rest of the way to his friend’s house. It was a fairly busy morning and Virgil appreciated the breeze that cars flying by provided. It was a hot day.

Once he reached Roman’s house, he knocked on the mahogany door. His friend’s house was a quaint little white house with two rows of magenta and yellow flowers in front. It felt homely.

After a few moments, he was about to knock again but it swung open. “Virgil, hey!” Roman said, smiling. Strangely, he didn’t seem mad at Virgil for leaving his house. However, Virgil _was_. “Excuse me? What the hell?" Roman tilted his head slightly. There was a cut or two on his upper lip, probably from shaving. "What?" Virgil puffed out an angry laugh. "You tell me to stay inside and then ghost me? Now you’re pretending nothing happened?!” Virgil asked, looking at him in exasperation. Roman scratched his neck sheepishly. “Right…” He seemed to be confused and thought for a moment before stepping aside. “Can we talk about this inside?” Virgil huffed but nodded and walked inside. They walked into the living room and sat down at his cozy tan couches.

“So can you please explain why you didn’t text me back for three days? You tell me to stay inside for ‘safety’ but never tell me why, not even over the phone!” 

Roman nodded, thinking. Then he sighed. “I just didn’t think you were safe… around me.” 

Virgil’s angry attitude dropped. “What do you mean?”

“Listen, Virgil…” Roman bit his lip, looking at the ground. Then he looked up at Virgil. Those chocolate brown eyes… there was something off about them, he couldn’t place it. He pushed the thought away and paid close attention as Roman scooted closer and puffed out a steady breath, as if in preparation.

“I’m in love with you.”

Virgil’s eyebrows shot up and his mouth widened.  _ Roman… he liked him back? Like, loved him? _

“I…”

Before he could say anything, Roman went on, looking back at his fireplace. “I stayed away from you because I couldn’t risk falling in love with you… but while I was away, I realized I was too late.”

Roman’s eyes turned to stare into his. “Virgil… do you love me too?”

_ Yes, yes I do. I love you so much, Roman. _

He wanted to say this, but he couldn’t. All he could manage was a small nod. Roman glanced down at his lips, then back at Virgil’s eyes, conveying a message that made Virgil’s blood freeze.

His heart was beating a thousand miles per minute.  _ Was this really happening? _

The two leaned in. Virgil looked down, then noticed for the first time that there was a small indent on his right nostril.  _ Since when did Roman get a nose piercing? _

They were so close, breath brushing against each other's lips. Virgil’s eyes fluttered closed and he focused on their closeness.  _ So close, so close… _

Then shit hit the fan.

Suddenly, Virgil was punched in the face and forced to turn around. Then, he was pushed into the couch cushions face first with his forearms pinned against his back. He cried out in pain, then looked behind him in horror. Roman held him down, eyes blazing with insanity and a demonic smile on his face. He fished out a white cloth from his pocket damp with some sort of liquid on it and shoved it against Virgil’s mouth and nose. No matter how much he struggled, the cloth remained. Slowly, he began to feel drowsy and weak. 

“Oh god, that was terrible,” Roman’s voice suddenly changed, it was more nasally and high-pitched. “I hate having to talk like that. Also, pretending to actually be in love with you… bleh. Oh well. At least you’re in our hands now.”

Roman’s voice was the last thing he heard before the world went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been posting weird lately, school has been crazy because we're going back in person again soon and I've had several projects going on.


	8. The Monster That Used to be My Friend

“Wake up, sleepyhead!" a voice sang out.

Virgil blinked himself awake, then jumped in his seat when he remembered the events pre-blackout. Well, he jumped best he could; he was tied to a chair. The room was dark, with only dim, flickering white lights in the ceiling. In front of him stood Roman, smiling evilly and playing with something in his hands. A knife. There was someone else leaning against the wall to his right as well, a man with a bowler hat, in a suit with a yellow tie, and a scar running across his left cheek.  _ The guy from that picture. _ Behind Roman was someone else facing him, also in a chair, but he couldn’t tell who it was in the dim light.

“Ah, you’re awake,” Roman said. He was wearing a dark green tshirt with dark red blotches covering it and cargo pants with similar stains. _Blood._ Virgil's breath quickened and a drop of sweat dribbled down his temple. “But just in case you’re tired still, here’s a little adrenaline for ya.”

Roman stepped forward and dragged the knife hard across the top of Virgil’s hand, drawing blood. Pain shot up his arm and he cried out, gritting his teeth. Roman just laughed.

“There we go. You're properly awake." Roman studied Virgil for a moment, his gaze was ants crawling up and down his body. At last, Roman met eyes with Virgil once more.  "Now, let me introduce you to someone.”

Roman stepped aside to reveal the man in a chair, also tied up. He had dark hair, wide blue eyes, and light freckles. He also had dried blood staining his clothes and skin. It only took a moment for Virgil to realize. 

“Dad!” he shouted, struggling against the restraints. The man did the same, but remained silent because of the gag tied around his mouth. Only muffled shouts got past it.

“Ah, so it would seem you already know each other. I’m sure you thought he was dead, didn’t you?” Roman chuckled, drawing light lines across his palm with the tip of his knife. “Roman, why… why are you doing this? What do you want?” Tears threatened to spill over. He thought Roman was his friend, maybe even lover. His friendship seemed like a dream now, compared to this monster.   
  


“What do we want?”

Virgil’s head whipped over to the new voice, the man with the scar, who walked over to Roman. “Well it’s simple. We want the man who arrested twelve of our best workers to suffer. And the best way to do that?” he grabbed Roman’s knife from his hands and slowly sauntered over to Virgil and leaned down. “Torture his son,” he whispered.

With that final comment, he drove the knife into Virgil’s thigh. He screamed; it was like a lightning bolt electrifying his body with pain. Blood sprouted and poured out of the wound as the man removed the knife. However, not for long. He stabbed again, just a bit lower. The pain increased; Virgil could hear his father yelling against the cloth around his mouth. A pool of blood began to collect on the floor.

Finally, he took the knife out and gave it back to Roman. “We want this to last as long as we can, yes?” he said as if nothing happened. Roman nodded. Hot tears ran down Virgil’s cheeks and dripped onto his shirt. It was painful, so painful.

“Once you’re done with a few stabs and _maybe_ a broken bone, take him back to his cell. We’ll do a little bit every day before killing them both when we’re done. Just make the pain last.” With that, the man promptly walked out, leaving Roman, Virgil’s father, and him alone.

“Well, let’s have a little fun, shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


End file.
